Many people around the United States could hardly fathom eating the way I do. Almost nothing I buy comes in a package. Almost everything is a simple whole food such as an apple rather than something processed like applesauce. While I’m preparing my food and after I’m done eating there is usually no need for a garbage can whatsoever. I can pronounce everything I eat and every single thing on the ingredients list if I do buy something that even has an ingredients list. My diet consists almost completely of plants and my food doesn’t have pesticides, or preservatives on it or in it. This is a diet that is far unrecognizable to tens or maybe even hundreds of millions of Americans and to me it is just a matter of eating in a manner that’s good for me, good for the earth, and highly cost effective.

When I was a child I was an avid reader. I read 100’s of books. Looking back now I still vividly remember the Little House books, Robinson Crusoe, The Swiss Family Robinson, and The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle. These adventures played a big part in shaping my life and probably in part turned me into the adventurer and explorer that I am today. There is little doubt in my mind that reading is one of the most beneficial ways that I spent my time as a child.

Like millions of other people around the world I first came upon Mark Boyle through a viral Facebook post. The story was headlined by an iconic photo of him sitting bare chested outside next to his homemade rocket stove and his clothes hanging out to dry.

Trash is all around us, but it’s something most of don’t normally think about. Take a walk around any street in your community and you’re bound to find small bits of plastic, plastic drink bottles, cigarette butts littered on the side of the road, and an overflowing trash can or two. And it’s no wonder, the average American creates nearly 4.5 pounds of trash per day! With the amount trash we create individually each day, have we ever wondered about how we could all make a whole lot less of it?

We’ve got a Food Waste Fiasco on our hands, United States of America, and it’s time we solve it. But before diving into the solution, you must have a grasp on the depth of the problem. Here’s my TEDx talk that will make things pretty clear in under 20 minutes:

In the United States, we throw away nearly half of all the food we produce while 1 in 7 Americans are food insecure. To put it into other words, we produce enough food to feed 2 entire American populations, yet 50 million Americans are food insecure. To get your head wrapped around the issue give my TEDX talk a watch.